Track-sander.



JOSIAH D. BENNER, 0F DAYTON, OHIO.

r TRACKSANDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 27, 1917.

Application filed July 3, 1916. Serial No. 107,459.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JosrAH D. BENNER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Dayton, in the county of Montgomery and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Track-Sanders, of whichthe following is a specification.

My invention relates to dispensing appa-- ratus for granular materialsand more particularly to agitating means and to means for controllingthe discharge thereof. While the apparatus is particularly designed foruse as a sand distributer for railway cars or other vehicles, it is notlimited to such use but may be applied to storage bins for dispensingother commodities such as sugar, salt, cereals and other like products.

The object of the invention is to simplify the structure as well as themeans and mode of operation of such devices whereby they will not onlybe cheapened in construction, but will be more efficient in use,positive in operation, easily operated, and unlikely to get out ofrepair.

A further object of the invention is to pro- Vvide an improved form ofclosure which may be easily opened without necessarily lifting any greatportion of the contents of the bin or container whereby the effortrequired. to open said closure will be equalized regardless of thequantity of product within' the container or bin.

A further object of the invention is to provide improved form ofagitator and means for operating same whereby the contents of thecontainer adjacent to the discharge orifice will'be thoroughly loosenedpreparatory to its discharge simultaneously with the opening of theorifice.

A further object of the invention is to provide improved form ofoperating means for the closure and agitator.

Vith the above primary and other inci# dental objects in View, as willmore fully appear in the specification, the invention consists of thefea-tures of construction, the

parts and combinations thereof, and the' mode of operation, or theirequivalents, as hereinafter described and set forth in the claims.

Referring t0 the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of theassembled apparat-us; Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view on line o o ofFig. 1. v y

Like parts are indicated by similar char- 'actersof reference throughoutthe several views.

. In constructing the apparatus there is elnployed a hopper or binseparated by a trans-V ent instance is the floor of the car or vehicleupon the upper side of `which the main compartment 2 is mounted whilethe discharge or auxiliary compartment 3 is sus# pended from the underside thereof. Inv the event the device is located above the floor line adiaphragm other than the floor will be employed. Leadingr from theauxiliary or discharge compartment 3 is a discharge conduit el whilelocated in the diaphragm 1 (in the present instance the Hoor of the car)Vis an intercommunicating orifice 5 between the compartments 2 and 3 ofless capacity than the discharge conduit 4.

Located within the main compartment or bin. 2 is a support 6, in thepresent instance arch shaped but which may bea cross tree secured to thesides of the bin, from which is suspended a housing or sleeve 7preferably, though not necessarily, provided with one or more internalspiral ribs 8. Mounted to telescope within-the housing or sleeve -7 isa. tubular closure cap 9 preferably, though not necessarily, closed atits upper end. At its lower end the closure cap 9 is adapted to restupon an annular bearing plate l0 which forms a reinforcement or collarabout theorilice 5 in the diaphragm l leading fromA the compartment 2 tothe auxiliary compartment 3. As indicated in Fig. 1, the closure cap 9is of greater diameter than the orifice 5 whereby the cap will seatitself upon the fiat upper face of the bearing plate 10, which bearingplate will extend within the inner periphery of the closure cap 9 asindicated at 1l, Fig.k2. y

Extending in substantially'radial direction about the closure cap 9 andeither secured thereto or formed integral therewith are a plurality ofagitator arms 12. These agitator arms may be formed straight but arepreferably curved or serpentine whereby they will cover av greater area.

Longitudinally disposed within the slee-ve 7 and the closure cap 9 is areciprocatoryshaft .18to which the closure cap is rigidly secured by'.means of the locking nut 14:.

v This reciprocatory shaft 13 slides in a suitable bearing in the upperend of the `sleeve 7 and preferably, though not necessarily, 1n the arch6. To enable the shaft 13 to more easily penetrate the contents of thecontainer 2 when reciprocated upward, the upper end of the shaft may betapered or pointed as at 15. To reciprocate the shaft 13 and the closurecap 9 secured thereto there is provided a bell crank 1G pivoted at 17within the auxiliary compartment 3. This bell crank 16 engages a loosecollar 18 on the shaft 13 which collar in turn engages a. fixed collaror stop 19 secured thereto. The opposite arm of the bell crank 16 isconnected b v a pitman or link 2() with the rock arm 21 of a double footlever pivoted at 23 to a suitable bracket 2st mounted upon the ioor ofthe car or vehicle. The operator may, by treading upon one side of thefoot lever 22 oscill ate the bell crank 16 to elevate the shaft 13andthe closure cap 9 carried thereby.

The commodities mentioned such as sand, sugar, salt, etc. are quitesusceptible to atmospheric conditions and when moist possess a tendencyto compact or harden whereby they will not readily flow through theoutlet 5. Furthermore, in the case of sand, when carried upon a railwayor other vehicle, the constant jar of the vehicle tends to condense orpack the material in the container or hopper to such extent as tointerfere with the free flow of the material. Upon the upward movementof the shaft and closure cap the agitator arms 12 carried thereby areforced upward through the contents of the compartment 2 and therebyloosen same whereby they will readily flow through the orice 5 into theauxiliary compartment 3 and then through the outlet conduit 4. Theorifice 5 being of slightly less capacity than the outlet conduit lprevents the accumulation of the discharged material in the compartment3 from which it may escape through the conduit 1 more rapidly than itenters through the orifice 5.

To insure thorough agitation of the container contents to loosen andrender the contents free flowing the agitator arms 12 are preferablygiven a rotary movement throughout a partial rotation during theirvertical movement, thereby causing said arms to travel in substantiallya spiral path. To effect this spiral movement or rotation of theagitator arms 12 there is provided upon the shaft 13 within the sleeveor housing 7 a collar 25 from which project studs or rollers 26 adaptedto engage the spiral ribs or guides 8 during the reciprocatory movementof the shaft thereby causing the shaft with the closure cap and agitatorarms to rotate throughout a partial revolution. inasmuch as eightradially disposed agitator arms are shown in the drawing, a movement ofone eighth of a revolution will be sufficient to cause the agitator armsto cover the full circle of operation.

The operation of the closure cap and agitator arms is positive in bothdirections, z'. c., when the operator steps upon one side of the footlever 22 he positively actuates the shaft 13 to open the closure cap andsimultaneously elevates and rotates the agitator arms. By stepping onthe opposite side of the foot lever 22 he positively operates the 'partsin the reverse direction to close the closure cap and return theagitator arms to normal position.

In the case of a railway car or vehicle the constant jar incident to thetravel of the car or vehicle may cause the closure cap to chatter or jaropen, thereby permitting the cscape of small quantities of sand or othermaterial. To prevent this a helical spring 27 is located within thesleeve or housing 7 about the shaft 13 and normally tends to force saidshaft downward and close the orifice 5. This spring tends toautomatically close the outlet 5 when the operator-s foot has beenremoved from the foot lever 22. However, the tension of the spring is aslight as practical in order that the operator mav meet with as littleVresistance as possible in opening the closure cap 9.

It is obvious that the spiral ribs or guides 8 may be omitted from thehousing 7 in which case the closure and agitator arms will move upwardin straight or perpendicular paths and it is equally obvious that theagitator arms may be formed straight instead of curved or serpentine.

When the construction is employed for dispensing other material thansand or is employed in other positions than upon the floor of a railwaycar or vehicle, for instance when employed for dispensing salt, sugar orsimilar material, the apparatus will be placed in an elevated positionand the foot lever 22 may be placed upon the floor beneath the apparatusinstead of at one side thereof as shown in Fig. 1. In lieu of a footlever for Voperating the device a push and pull handle such as isindicated by dotted lines at 28 may be connected to the pitman or link20 to be operated manually in lieu of the foot operated device.

From they above description it will be apparent that there is thusprovided a device of the character described possessing the particularfeatures or advantages before enumerated as desirable but whichobviously is susceptible of modification in its form, proportion, detailconstruction, or arrangement of parts without departing from theprinciple involved or sacrificing any of its advantages.

While in order to comply with the statute the invention has beendescribed in language more or less specific as to certain structuralfeatures, it is to be understood that the means and construction hereindescribed comprise but one mode of putting the invention into eect andthe invention is therefore claimed broadly in any of its possible formsor modiications within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim: 1

l. In a dispensing' device for granular material, a hopper having adischarge oritice, a fixed sleeve terminating above the dischargeorifice and alined therewith, a reciprocatory closure for said orificetelescoping within the sleeve, and means for reciprocating the closureto open an unobstructed passage from all sides to the discharge oriiice.

2. In a dispensing device for granular material, a hopper having adischarge oriice located in a plain flat bearing surface, areciprocatory closure member of greater diameter than the dischargeorifice adapted to be seated upon the plain Hat bearing surfacesurrounding the discharge opening, aV

fixed sleeve suspended above the discharge opening into which theclosure member telescopes, and means to reciprocate the closure cap.

3. In a dispensing device for granular material, a hopper having adischarge orilice, a fixed sleeve suspended above the discharg'e oriceand alined therewith, a reciprocatory closure member telescoping withinsaid suspended sleeve, a plurality of substantially radially disposedagitator arms movable in unison with the closure member' and means toreciprocate the closure member and. agitator arms.

4f. In a dispensing 'device for granular material, a hopper having adischarge orice, a sleeve suspended above the discharge orifice and inalinement therewith, a reciprocatory closure member telescoping with thesleeve, a plurality of substantially radially disposed agitator armscarried bly the closure member, means for reciprocating the closuremember, and means for rotating Vthe closure member simultaneously withits reciprocatory movement.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 15th day of June,A. D. 1916.

JOSIAH D. BENNER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner` of Patents- Washington, D. C.

